Chapter Seven Rules of Procedure: Security Council & Historical Security Council

Transcription

1 1. Administrative Chapter Seven Rules of Procedure: Security Council & Historical Security Council 1.1 The Secretariat. The Secretariat consists of the volunteer staff members of American Model United Nations. 1.8 Attendance at Security Council Sessions. Each Security Council member delegation assumes the responsibility to have present a minimum of one accredited Representative at each Council session. 1.2 Rules Committee. The President of the General Assembly, Senior Vice President of the General Assembly, Director of Security Council Procedures, and one other person appointed by the Secretary General shall compose the membership of the Rules Committee. 1.3 Credentials. All questions concerning the validity of Representative credentials shall be submitted in writing to the Secretariat, The Secretariat has sole authority to decide all questions concerning credentials, Representatives must wear approved credentials at all times while on the Conference premises. 1.4 Quorum. A quorum is made up of all member delegations; to begin a Council session all members must be present, The Secretariat reserves the right to adjust the quorum as it deems necessary. 1.5 Security Council Officers. The Secretariat shall appoint the President and Vice President of the Security Council, and shall select any other positions necessary to help conduct the sessions of the Council. 1.6 General Authority of the Security Council President. In addition to exercising such authority conferred upon the President elsewhere in these rules, the President shall have the authority to Declare the opening and closing of each session, Ensure the observance of the rules, Direct the discussions of the Council and accord the right to speak, Advise the Council on methods of procedure that will enable the body to accomplish its goals, Rule on points and motions, and subject to these rules, have complete control of the proceedings of the Council and the maintenance of order at its meetings. During the course of the session the President may propose Limits on Debate, Closure of Debate, Enter Consultative Session and Suspension and Adjournment of the Meeting, The President is under the direct authority of the Rules Committee, and may be directed to inform the Council on matters of procedure if such action is deemed necessary by the Rules Committee. 1.7 Absence of Council President. If the Council President should find it necessary to be absent during any part of a Council session, he/she will designate an individual, normally the Vice President, to chair the Council session with the same authority. 1.9 Emergency Council Sessions. Emergency Security Council Sessions may be called by the Secretariat at any time international conflicts require immediate Council attention, as established in the Charter of the United Nations Provisional Agenda. The Secretariat shall distribute a provisional agenda to all delegations prior to the start of the Conference, This agenda provides the Council with topics that are the basis for its deliberations, but in no way limits the Council s topics Daily Order of Consideration of Agenda Topics. The Council will establish the daily order of consideration of agenda topics at the start of each daily session. Once established, this will become the working agenda for the duration of that day, Agenda topics will be discussed in the order in which they appear on the working agenda (rule 7.10), A delegation wishing to change this order may move to change the order of consideration of the working agenda (rule 7.9) Participation by Non Council Member States and International Organizations. When an issue before the Security Council involves a non-council UN Member State or Observer, the Council may request that the delegation be represented during Council sessions in which the issue is being discussed, To do this a Council member delegation must move that the nation is Party to the Dispute (rule 7.15), A non-council UN member or observer that has been requested to attend Council sessions will usually be given debating privileges; this would allow the delegation to be recognized by the President during debate, A non-council UN Member State or observer may submit draft resolutions or amendments, but may not move these to the floor or vote at any time, A non-council member requested to attend a Council session, but not given debating privileges, will be subject to a question and answer period, If the Security Council, when discussing any issue, finds it necessary to have present a Representative of a non-un Member State, an international organization, or any other persons it considers competent for the purpose, it may request one by means of Party to the Dispute (rule 7.15). A Representative will be made available to the Council in a timely fashion, These Representatives may not be given debating privileges, but will be subject to a question and answer period, 2011 AMUN Rules & Procedures Page 25

2 The Secretariat will assume full responsibility to certify Representatives credentials prior to their appearance before the Council, If it is determined that many nations outside of the Security Council have an interest in a specific issue, the Council may declare an open meeting on any issue being discussed, In order to allow all delegations time to prepare their comments, an open meeting in the Council should be announced at least two hours in advance of the open debate session (rule 7.15), Any UN Member State or observer may participate in an open meeting Security Council Priority Relating to Issues Concerning the Maintenance of International Peace and Security. The Security Council, as established in the United Nations Charter, shall have priority over the General Assembly on issues that pertain to the maintenance of international peace and security, Issues of this type, while under discussion in the Security Council, shall be seized from General Assembly action, Accordingly, any General Assembly draft resolution pertaining to a seized issue cannot be put to a final vote until the Security Council has completed its deliberations on the subject, General Assembly draft resolutions that deal with a seized issue may be discussed and amended, but no final vote on the draft resolution may be taken, If no resolution has been adopted, the Security Council will be considered to have completed its deliberations on a seized issue once that agenda topic is no longer under discussion. The Council may declare itself actively seized on a topic by stating this in a resolution; this seizure will prevent the General Assembly from taking action until a two hour time period has elapsed. Throughout the General Assembly, Representatives will be kept informed by the Secretary General of any seized issues. 2. General Rules 2.1 Statements by the Secretariat. The Secretary General or any member of the Secretariat may make verbal or written statements to the Security Council at any time. 2.2 Diplomatic Courtesy. Representatives must accord Diplomatic Courtesy to all other Representatives and Secretariat members at all times, Representatives who persist in obvious attempts to disrupt the session shall be subject to expulsion from the Council by the President, The Secretariat reserves the right to expel any Representative/delegation from the Conference, Decisions of the President on Diplomatic Courtesy are not appealable. 2.3 Speeches. No Representative may address the Council without obtaining the permission of the President, Delegations, not Representatives, are recognized to speak; more than one Representative from the same delegation may speak when the delegation is recognized, Speakers must keep their remarks germane to the subject under discussion, Page AMUN Rules & Procedures A time limit may be established for speeches (rule 7.11), Representatives, at the conclusion of a substantive speech, will be allowed, if they are willing, to answer questions concerning their speech, A delegation that desires to ask a question should signify by raising a Point of Inquiry (rule 6.3), All questions and replies are made through the President, A speaker who desires to make a motion may do so after his/her speech and questioning, but prior to yielding the floor, By making a motion the speaker yields the floor, Motions may not be made from Points of Order (rule 6.1), Information (rule 6.2) or Inquiry (rule 6.3). 2.4 Recognition of Speakers. Delegations wishing to speak on an item before the body will signify by raising their placards, The exception to this rule occurs on any Point of Order (rule 6.1), Information (rule 6.2), or Inquiry (rule 6.3), at which time a Representative should raise their placard and call out Point of to the President, Points will be recognized in the order of their priority, The President shall recognize speakers in a fair and orderly manner, Speakers lists will not be used, except during an open meeting (rule 1.12). 2.5 Right of Reply. The President may accord a Right of Reply to any Representative if a speech by another Representative contains unusual or extraordinary language clearly insulting to personal or national dignity, Requests for a Right of Reply shall be made in writing to the President, Requests shall contain the specific language which was found to be insulting to personal or national dignity, The President s decision is not subject to appeal, There shall be no reply to a reply, The President may limit the time for reply. 2.6 Withdrawal of Motions. A motion may be withdrawn by its proposer at any time before voting on it has begun, A withdrawn motion may be reintroduced by any other delegation. 2.7 Dilatory Motions. The President may rule out of order any motion repeating or closely approximating a recent previous motion on which the Council has already rendered an opinion, This ruling is not subject to appeal. 2.8 Open Debate on Motions. Representatives wishing to speak to a motion may do so for any motions which are subject to open debate, The President shall declare the opening and closing of debate on motions, Questioning of speakers is not in order during this debate, Motions of higher priority than the one being debated may be made from the floor during open debate, The President will declare debate closed when no other delegations signify their desire to speak,

3 Closure of open debate may not be moved by a delegation from the floor, The body will move to an immediate vote on the motion following the President s declaration of closure. 2.9 Consultative Session. The Council may choose to suspend its rules and enter an informal, consultative session moderated by the Council President if the members determine that this process will better facilitate the discussion of a particular issue, The Council will move immediately into a formal session at the conclusion of discussions on the consultative topic (rule 7.7). 3. Rules That Relate to the Rules 3.1 Rule Priority and Procedure. The rules contained in this handbook are the official rules of procedure of American Model United Nations and will be used for all Council sessions. These rules take precedence over any other set of rules. 3.2 Precedence of Rules. Proceedings in the Security Council of AMUN shall be conducted under the following precedence of rules 1. AMUN Rules of Procedure, 2. AMUN Security Council Precedence Short Form (see page 39), 3. Rulings by the Rules Committee, 4. Historical Usage of the AMUN Rules of Procedure, 5. The Charter of the United Nations. 3.3 The Order of Precedence of Motions. The order of precedence of motions is listed in order of priority in both the Security Council Precedence Short Form (see page 39) and in these rules under Section 7, Motions in Order of Priority. These motions, in the order given, have precedence over all other proposals or motions before the Security Council. 3.4 Rule Changes. The Rules Committee reserves the right to make changes to these rules at any time. Should a change occur, it will be communicated to the Representatives in a timely manner. 4. Draft Resolutions, Amendments, & Statements 4.1 Definition of Draft Resolutions. A draft resolution is a written proposal consisting of at least one preambular and one operative clause. 4.2 Draft Resolutions. Draft resolutions may be submitted to the Security Council President/Vice President for approval at any time during the Conference, For a draft resolution to be considered it must be organized in content and flow, in the proper format and approved by the Council President, After acceptance by the President, draft resolutions shall be processed in the order in which they are received and distributed to all delegations as soon as feasible. A draft resolution that has been distributed may be proposed when the Council considers the agenda topic that is the subject of the draft resolution, Only one draft resolution may be considered at any time during formal debate, Once a draft resolution is on the floor for discussion, additional sponsors may only be added to that draft resolution with the consent of the original sponsor(s), Once a vote has been taken on a contested amendment to a draft resolution, no additional sponsors may be added, Friendly amendments (rule 4.4) do not limit the addition of sponsors as noted above, See also Closure of Debate on an Agenda Topic (rule 7.4), Closure of Debate (rule 7.5), and Consideration of Amendments (rule 7.13). 4.3 Definition of Amendments. An amendment to a draft resolution is a written proposal that adds to, deletes from, or revises any part of a draft resolution. 4.4 Amendments. All amendments must be submitted on an official amendment form to the President/Vice President for approval, For an amendment to be considered it must be organized in content and flow, be in the proper format, and be approved by the Council Secretariat. Approved amendments will be assigned an identification letter by the Vice President, Typographical errors in a draft resolution will be corrected by the Council Secretariat and announced to the body, One or more amendments may be considered on the floor at any given time (see also Closure of Debate on an Agenda Topic (rule 7.4), Closure of Debate (rule 7.5), and Consideration of Amendments (rule 7.13)), An amendment will be considered friendly if all sponsors of the draft resolution are also sponsors of the amendment, A friendly amendment becomes part of a draft resolution upon the announcement that it is accepted, No vote is required to add a friendly amendment to a draft resolution, The President shall announce the acceptance of a friendly amendment on the first opportunity at which no speaker has the floor, Friendly amendments cannot be accepted after a vote has been taken on a contested amendment, or after closure of debate on a resolution has been moved. 4.5 Withdrawal of Sponsorship. Sponsorship of a resolution or amendment may be withdrawn at any time before voting on it has begun, Sponsorship of a resolution may not be withdrawn after a vote has been taken on a contested amendment, If a draft resolution or amendment has all sponsorship withdrawn, any delegation may take up sponsorship of that draft resolution or amendment by informing the President, If all sponsors withdraw from a draft resolution or amendment, it is automatically removed from consideration. 4.6 Definition of Presidential Statements. The Security Council may choose to issue a Presidential Statement on issues which do not warrant a resolution. This statement is formally issued by the President of the Council, but is drafted by the body, or its designees AMUN Rules & Procedures Page 27

4 4.7 Presidential Statements. Presidential Statements are discussed, drafted and accepted in informal debate or outside of a formal Council session, This statement must be accepted by a consensus of the Council, As this type of statement does not represent a formal decision of the Council, no formal vote is recorded on a Presidential Statement, Unlike resolutions, Presidential Statements are not binding on Member States. A Presidential Statement may be submitted to the Security Council President/Vice President for approval at any time during the Conference, For a Presidential Statement to be considered it must be organized in content. 5. Voting 5.1 Voting Rights. Each Security Council member is accorded one No Representative/delegation may cast a vote on behalf of another Member State. 5.2 Votes Required for Passage. Unless otherwise specified in these rules, decisions in the Council require nine affirmative votes for passage, Historical Security Councils occurring prior to 1963, consisting of eleven members, require seven affirmative votes for passage of decisions. 5.3 Adoption by Consensus. The adoption of amendments and draft resolutions by consensus is desirable when it contributes to the effective and lasting settlement of differences, thus strengthening the authority of the United Nations, Any Representative may request the adoption of an amendment or draft resolution by consensus at any time after Closure of Debate has passed, The President shall ask whether there is any objection to a consensus, If there is no objection, the proposal is approved by consensus, If any Representative objects to consensus, voting shall occur as otherwise stated in these rules. 5.4 Method of Voting. The Council shall normally vote on motions by a show of raised placards, The votes of Council members on all substantive matters shall be officially recorded, and all substantive matters are subject to the Consent of the Permanent Members, regardless of the means by which they are voted upon (rule 5.8), Any nation may request a roll call vote on substantive matters, unless adopted by consensus; this request shall then automatically be granted by the President, When applicable, roll shall be called in English alphabetical order beginning with a nation selected at random by the Vice President, Representatives shall reply yes, no, abstain or abstain from the order of voting, A nation may abstain from the order of voting once during a roll call; a second abstention from the order of voting will be recorded as an abstention. Page AMUN Rules & Procedures 5.5 Conduct During Voting. Immediately prior to a the President shall describe to the Council the proposal to be voted on, and shall explain the consequences of a yes or a no vote. Voting shall begin upon the President s declaration we are in voting procedure, and end when the results of the vote are announced, Once in voting procedure, no Representative shall interrupt the voting except on a Point of Order or Point of Information concerning the actual conduct of the Following Closure of Debate, and prior to entering voting procedure, the President shall pause briefly to allow delegations the opportunity to make any relevant motions, Relevant motions prior to a vote include Adoption by Consensus (rule 5.3) Suspension of the Meeting (rule 7.1), Adjournment of the Meeting (rule 7.2), Enter Consultative Session (rule 7.7), and Division of the Question (rule 7.12). 5.6 Changes of Votes. At the end of roll call, but before Rights of Explanation (rule 5.7) and the subsequent announcement of the the Vice President will ask for any vote changes. Any delegation that desires to change its recorded vote may do so at that time. 5.7 Rights of Explanation. Rights of Explanation are permitted on all substantive votes after voting. The President may limit the time for Rights of Explanation. 5.8 Consent of the Five Permanent Members. As established in the Charter of the United Nations, each of the five Permanent Members China, France, Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States shall have the right to veto any substantive matter which comes to a vote before the Security Council, A no vote by any Permanent Member, along with nine affirmative votes by other Council members, shall constitute a veto and cause the motion to fail. 6. Points of Procedure in Order of Priority 6.1 Point of Order. During the discussion of any matter, a Representative may rise to a Point of Order if he/she believes that the Council is proceeding in a manner contrary to these rules, The Representative will be recognized immediately by the President and the point ruled on, A Representative rising to a Point of Order may not speak substantively on any matter, If a Representative s ability to participate in the Council s deliberations is impaired for any reason, the Representative may rise to a Point of Order, A Point of Order may interrupt a speaker. 6.2 Point of Information. A Point of Information is raised to the President if a Representative wishes to obtain a clarification of procedure or a statement of the matters before the Council, Representatives may not interrupt a speaker on a Point of Information. 6.3 Point of Inquiry. During substantive debate, a Representative may question a speaker by rising to a Point of Inquiry,

5 Questions must be directed through the President and may be made only after the speaker has concluded his/her remarks, but before he/she has yielded the floor, Representatives may not interrupt a speaker on a Point of Inquiry, See also Speeches (rule 2.3). 7. Motions in Order of Priority 7.1 Suspension of the Meeting. During the discussion of any matter, a Representative may move to suspend the meeting. Suspending a meeting recesses it for the time specified in the motion, The motion is not debatable, The President may request that the delegation making the motion modify the time of suspension, If the motion passes, the Council, when it reconvenes, will continue its business from the point at which suspension was moved, unless otherwise stated in these rules. 7.2 Adjournment of the Meeting. The motion of adjournment means that all business of the Council has been completed, and that the Council will not reconvene until the next annual session, The motion is not debatable, The President may refuse to recognize a motion to adjourn the meeting if the Council still has business before it, This decision is not appealable. 7.3 Adjournment of Debate. During the discussion of any amendment, draft resolution or agenda topic before the Council, a Representative may move for adjournment of debate, the open debate period, the motion shall be put to a Adjournment of debate on a draft resolution or amendment would end debate on that draft resolution or amendment, An adjourned draft resolution can be resubmitted to the floor by any delegation, at the discretion of the President as to the dilatory nature of such a motion, Adjourning debate on an agenda topic has the effect of postponing debate on the topic and allowing the Council to move on to consideration of other topics or issues, The Council may return to discussion of an agenda topic by either placing the topic on the working agenda, or by changing the order of consideration of the working agenda. See Add an Agenda Topic (rule 7.8), Change the Order of Consideration of the Working Agenda (rule 7.10) and Set the Working Agenda (rule 7.9). 7.4 Closure of Debate on an Agenda Topic. A Representative may move to close debate on an agenda topic at any time during the discussion of that topic. The effect of this motion, if passed, is to bring a draft resolution that is on the floor to a If no draft resolution is on the floor, the effect of this motion is to end debate on this topic and move on to the next topic on the working agenda, vote. 7.5 Closure of Debate. A Representative may move to close debate on a draft resolution or amendment at any time during the discussion of that item. The effect of this motion is to bring the issue under discussion to an immediate Representatives should specify whether the motion for closure applies to an amendment or a draft resolution, If closure passes on a draft resolution or agenda topic, all amendments on the floor will be voted upon in the reverse order from which they were moved to the floor, After voting on all amendments is completed, the draft resolution shall be voted upon in accordance with these rules, At the conclusion of voting procedure, the draft resolution or amendment being voted on is removed from consideration for future discussions, regardless of whether it passes or fails. Debate then continues on the current topic under discussion. 7.6 Appealing a Decision of the President. Rulings of the President are appealable unless otherwise specified in these rules, An appeal must be made immediately following the ruling in question, This motion may be made by a delegation that has been recognized through a Point of Order, The President shall put the question as follows: Shall the decision of the President be sustained? A yes vote supports the President s decision; a no vote signifies objection, The decision of the President shall be sustained by a tie, Rulings by the President on the following rules or motions are not appealable: Diplomatic Courtesy (rule 2.2), Right of Reply (rule 2.5), Dilatory Motions (rule 2.7), granting of a roll call vote (rule 5.4), Adjournment of the Meeting (rule 7.2), and any time a ruling by the President is a direct quotation from these Rules of Procedure. 7.7 Consultative Session. A motion to enter consultative session is in order at any time, The motion should specify a length of time for the consultative session, This can be set to a specific time, or based on the discussion of a specific amendment, draft resolution or agenda topic (rule 2.9), vote. 7.8 Add an Agenda Topic. A motion to add an agenda topic to the working agenda is in order during any Council session, 2011 AMUN Rules & Procedures Page 29

6 Once an issue is added as an agenda topic, it is placed as the last topic on the working agenda. 7.9 Change the Order of Consideration of the Working Agenda. A motion to change the order of consideration of topics on the working agenda is in order during any Council session. The effect of this motion is to change the order in which agenda topics are to be discussed by the Council, the open debate period, the motion shall then be put to a The delegation making this motion must state, in the motion, the new order in which the agenda topics are to be considered Set Working Agenda. At the start of each daily session the Security Council shall establish a Working Agenda (rule 1.11). A delegation may move to set the working agenda, The motion must include the order in which agenda topics are to be considered, A working agenda does not have to contain all agenda topics Limits on Debate. A motion to limit or extend the time allotted to each delegation, or limit the number of times each delegation can speak on a substantive matter, is in order at any time, The time allotted for speakers on amendments, draft resolutions and agenda topics shall be no less than three minutes, This motion may limit the number of Points of Inquiry a speaker may accept to a minimum of one, A motion to limit the time of debate on an agenda topic, draft resolution, or amendment is also in order Division of the Question. A motion to divide the question, proposing that clauses of an amendment or draft resolution be voted on separately, is in order at any time prior to entering voting procedure on the amendment or draft resolution, No debate or vote is necessary if the sponsor(s) of the draft resolution does not object to the division, If a vote has previously been taken on a contested amendment to the draft resolution, any Council member may object to division and require a After a majority vote is received on a motion for Division of the Question, no other motion for Division of the Question is in order on that amendment or draft resolution, Those clauses of the amendment or draft resolution which are approved shall then be put to a vote as a whole, If division causes a draft resolution to no longer be in proper format (rule 4.1), the proposal as a whole is rejected Consideration of Draft Resolutions. A draft resolution may be moved to the floor by any delegation that receives recognition by the President, This motion is not debatable, Only one draft resolution may be on the floor at any time, The delegation moving consideration will be allowed to speak first on the draft resolution, if desired Consideration of Amendments. To bring an amendment to the floor for discussion a delegation must first be recognized by the President, This motion is not debatable, The Vice President will present the amendment to the body, The delegation moving consideration will be allowed to speak first on the amendment, if desired Party to the Dispute. When the Security Council discusses a topic/issue that involves a nation or international organization not represented on the Council, it may request a Representative by moving Party to the Dispute, The motion must state the UN Member State(s) or organization(s) whose Representative is desired and, if a nation, whether debating privileges are to be granted, If debating privileges are not granted, a formal question and answer period shall be instituted by the President, for the purposes of questioning the Representative on the issue(s) at hand, If it is determined that many nations outside of the Security Council have an interest in a specific issue, the Council may declare an open meeting on any issue being discussed, See also Participation by Non-Council Member States and International Organizations (rule 1.12). Page AMUN Rules & Procedures